


If Love is fire then I'll burn for you

by alphabetgirl



Category: EastEnders (TV)
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:41:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28131069
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alphabetgirl/pseuds/alphabetgirl
Summary: A series of oneshots based on the Ballum/Jola/Lexi family unit.
Relationships: Callum "Halfway" Highway/Ben Mitchell
Comments: 4
Kudos: 21





	If Love is fire then I'll burn for you

After their surrogate had successfully conceived and the pregnancy was well on the way, Rainie and Stuart decided that they wanted a house to raise their growing family in. Upon finding one just across the square, they suggested that Ben and Callum move into the flat once they'd left. Ben and Callum had jumped at the opportunity to have their own space, having spent months living with Phil followed by weeks residing with Ian and Kathy when the relations between Phil and Callum completely broke down. Ben had been adamant on one thing though: the flowery wallpaper had to go. 

Callum was in agreement and thankfully, permission to redecorate was easily obtained. 

Callum left most of the interior design to Ben and Lola, given the fact that they had the best eye for it and were the only ones who could tell the difference between eight seemingly identical shades of cream paint. 

After a couple of weeks, all of the wall paper had been stripped, apart from in the spare room which was now Lexi's, and the walls painted Magnolia. The furniture was replaced with a sleek leather sofa and matching love chair which was going to be great for cuddling in. Cushions and bean bags in bright shades of red, blue and yellow added colour and the massive photo collage on the wall made it feel like a family home. 

Then, one afternoon, Callum made the mistake of agreeing to accompany Ben on a shopping trip to Dunelm. They were only supposed to be there to get a coffee table, but Ben had been like a kid in a sweet shop as soon as they arrived, dashing up and down the aisles and half filling the trolley with loads of random but thankfully inexpensive stuff that they didn't need. What should have only taken about twenty minutes had now taken over three quarters of an hour, and Callum was starting to despair. He didn't really like shopping, he was the kind of person who, as soon as he got there he wanted to go home again. OK, so he didn't hate shopping when he did it with Ben. He loved spending time with Ben no matter what they were doing, but shopping was definitely near the bottom of the list of things he loved doing his boyfriend.

"Callum, can we get a totem pole?" Ben asked from the next aisle.

"Where would we put it?" Callum replied exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose and ignoring the incoherent grumble he got in response. The rapid clack of his lover's shoes on the polished floor tiles indicated that he was on the move once more, and yet again scampering away from the furniture section. 

Sighing, Callum leant back against a nearby pillar and waited for him to return, having lost the energy to rush along behind him some time ago. His gaze fell onto a nearby bargain bin where one of the items in particular caught his eye, a pair of child's reins. Callum was actually half seriously considering asking if they came in adult size as well. 

Just when they were finally back on track in their search for a coffee table, Ben had seen a pile of ridiculously expensive cashmere throws. The price tag had been the straw that broke the camel's back and Callum had put his foot down. Which had led to Callum's current situation. Standing in a homeware department, trying to talk his grown up boyfriend down from a full blown temper tantrum. 

"Come on, let's go," Callum said firmly, not for the first time, trying to pull his boyfriend away from the table piled high with blankets.   
"You are not wasting that much money on one of those,"

"It's cashmere, Callum," Ben said.

"You are mistaking me for someone who cares what it is," 

Ben scowled and folded his arms. "It's really soft and really comfortable. Perfect for cuddling under," he tempted with a flirtatious smile. 

The taller man raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Let's go.". 

"No!"

"Those toddlers over there are behaving better than you are right now," Callum hissed, indicating a couple of small children who were curiously observing the couple's exchange from the comfort of their pushchairs. 

"I don't care. I want it," Ben said, and with that, he stamped his foot. 

Realising that they were approaching the point of no return, Callum acted quickly. 

"Do you trust me?"

Ben blinked at him, suprised.

"Of course I do. You know I do," he replied, wondering where this conversation was going. 

"Then trust me when I say that I have something even softer at home,". 

"What is softer than cashmere?" Ben scoffed. 

"You'll have to wait until we get home to find that out," Callum said with a smug smile, turning around and steering the trolley towards the tills.

Ben gave the nearest cashmere throw one final, longing stroke before following along behind.

....................................................... 

"Right, where is this softer than cashmere blanket then," Ben asked once they had returned home and unpacked the numerous shopping bags.

"Are we not going to assemble the coffee table first?" Callum teased. 

Ben scowled. 

"Alright, I'll go and get it," Callum chuckled, pressing a kiss to the furrow between his boyfriend's brows. 

The blanket was folded up neatly  
on the top shelf of their wardrobe, where Callum had shoved it when they first moved in, half hidden under their winter duvet. 

When he carried it into their living room, Ben reached out and curiously ran his fingers over the soft fabric, giving a noise of pleasure when he realized just how soft it was. 

"Feel it," Callum said, wrapping it around his shoulders and gently stroking his cheek with one of the corners. 

Ben sighed, tightening the fabric around himself as his eyes slipped closed. 

Yes, it was an ugly shade of green that didn't match their colour scheme at all but it was softer than cashmere, and big enough for them to curl up under together with enough room for Lexi to snuggle inbetween them on the nights that they had her. Plus it smelt of Callum which was an added bonus.

Callum smiled, feeling completely self-satisfied as he watched his blanket clad boyfriend nuzzling the material.

"So, I take it that we don't need a cashmere blanket?"

"Suppose not," Ben mumbled as the taller man tugged him, still wrapped in the blanket to sit in the love chair with him, settling him against his chest and draping the blanket over both of them. 

Callum heaved a sigh of relief. 

"Although..."

"What?" Callum asked with a sinking feeling. Maybe he had relaxed too soon. 

"I still think that we could fit a totem pole in here,".

**Author's Note:**

> It turns out that once you envision Callum putting reins on Ben you can't unsee it. 
> 
> Let me know what you think. Do you want to read more?


End file.
